Anyone else had "Member" account cancelled ?

ultra · 7 Nov 2011, 05:22 PM

Hi. I found to my disappointment that FastMail has blocked outgoing (SMTP) mail from my account. I had one of the old "Member" accounts where a one-off fee was paid and some extra facilities over that of "Guest" were available.

Back in 2002/2003 I upgraded from Guest and then increased the mail storage space by 50 MB from the original 16 MB to 66 MB. I've used the account for years, fairly lightly, but in part to keep outgoing mail on a 'second' mail service (incoming goes to several mailboxes).

Used it fine on 2nd November, but trying to send on 3rd November got me a failure message telling me I had tried to use SMTP (duh, yes, I know!) and that it is not available for my account.

Unfortunately I was going away that day and had a hospital appointment the next, so did not really get much chance to look at things until yesterday when my initial e-mail response (which had been rejected) had to be submitted as a ticket. Despite the ticket system suggesting I would get no human response, I did have a response telling me my account was a Guest subscription.

I had no knowledge of this (I just assumed that new staff had never heard of Member accounts) but on checking it seems that FastMail has changed my account from "Member" to "Guest". I've appended a few items from my account details. Anyone able to explain what "Member fallback" was ? I don't remember any message from FM to me about that change, either... They seem to have unilaterally made changes to the account but didn't feel I should be told, or if they did, perhaps had no suitable warning in the Subject line like "IMPORTANT CHANGE TO YOUR ACCOUNT" (!)

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 1:43 AM -12.95 Charge Additional mailbox space
Fri, 19 May 2006 11:42 AM 0.00 Charge Cancel "Member" fallback, from 2006-05-19 onwards
Wed, 2 Nov 2011 5:39 PM 14.95 Refund Cancel "Member" subscription, from 2011-11-02 onwards
Wed, 2 Nov 2011 5:39 PM 0.00 Charge New "Guest" subscription, from 2011-11-02 onwards

Incidentally, I believe I will have logged in on the web interface around once each month, and indeed at 5:34pm on 2nd November, I had logged in, so it was only about 5 minutes later when the account was downgraded. I had been looking to see whether I could add more mail storage space but was not allowed to. I also had that credit of $14.95 temporarily, which I thought might have come from referrals, but it has now be 'adjusted' so I have no credit now.

I wondered if this cancellation of "Member" accounts was affecting everyone, or whether I had somehow 'triggered' the change when I logged in (a warning to others!) ? Alternatively, if the option "Guest" is the default on "upgrades", whether I could have inadvertently been changed via the "upgrade" page?

robert@fm · 7 Nov 2011, 11:28 PM

Just checked my Member account and it works fine, so if Member accounts are being deleted they haven't got around to mine yet.

Nor have I had any warning of impending closure.

Definitely raise a support ticket, though with any luck Neil or Bron will see this thread.

jam · 8 Nov 2011, 01:59 PM

Hmm. I'm not sure. I do recall FM was offering to credit back the Member fee of $14.95, for people who wanted to upgrade to Ad-free or above...

But as you did not actually change anything, I don't see why your Member status was taken away.

I noticed the Cancel "Member" fallback, from 2006-05-19 onwards (though I didn't see it advertised either), that's why I never bothered trying out other levels since it'd be too much bother to lose the address.

Hope someone's able to help you out.

ultra · 9 Nov 2011, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jam

I do recall FM was offering to credit back the Member fee of $14.95, for people who wanted to upgrade to Ad-free or above...

They have indeed placed the fee in my account pool so I can use it on an Ad-Free a/c.

Ah well, after several years of arguably free use, it is probably the best option!

7 Nov 2011, 05:22 PM	#1
ultra Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: UK Posts: 68	Anyone else had "Member" account cancelled ? Hi. I found to my disappointment that FastMail has blocked outgoing (SMTP) mail from my account. I had one of the old "Member" accounts where a one-off fee was paid and some extra facilities over that of "Guest" were available. Back in 2002/2003 I upgraded from Guest and then increased the mail storage space by 50 MB from the original 16 MB to 66 MB. I've used the account for years, fairly lightly, but in part to keep outgoing mail on a 'second' mail service (incoming goes to several mailboxes). Used it fine on 2nd November, but trying to send on 3rd November got me a failure message telling me I had tried to use SMTP (duh, yes, I know!) and that it is not available for my account. Unfortunately I was going away that day and had a hospital appointment the next, so did not really get much chance to look at things until yesterday when my initial e-mail response (which had been rejected) had to be submitted as a ticket. Despite the ticket system suggesting I would get no human response, I did have a response telling me my account was a Guest subscription. I had no knowledge of this (I just assumed that new staff had never heard of Member accounts) but on checking it seems that FastMail has changed my account from "Member" to "Guest". I've appended a few items from my account details. Anyone able to explain what "Member fallback" was ? I don't remember any message from FM to me about that change, either... They seem to have unilaterally made changes to the account but didn't feel I should be told, or if they did, perhaps had no suitable warning in the Subject line like "IMPORTANT CHANGE TO YOUR ACCOUNT" (!) Tue, 11 Mar 2003 1:43 AM -12.95 Charge Additional mailbox space Fri, 19 May 2006 11:42 AM 0.00 Charge Cancel "Member" fallback, from 2006-05-19 onwards Wed, 2 Nov 2011 5:39 PM 14.95 Refund Cancel "Member" subscription, from 2011-11-02 onwards Wed, 2 Nov 2011 5:39 PM 0.00 Charge New "Guest" subscription, from 2011-11-02 onwards Incidentally, I believe I will have logged in on the web interface around once each month, and indeed at 5:34pm on 2nd November, I had logged in, so it was only about 5 minutes later when the account was downgraded. I had been looking to see whether I could add more mail storage space but was not allowed to. I also had that credit of $14.95 temporarily, which I thought might have come from referrals, but it has now be 'adjusted' so I have no credit now. I wondered if this cancellation of "Member" accounts was affecting everyone, or whether I had somehow 'triggered' the change when I logged in (a warning to others!) ? Alternatively, if the option "Guest" is the default on "upgrades", whether I could have inadvertently been changed via the "upgrade" page?

7 Nov 2011, 11:28 PM	#2
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Just checked my Member account and it works fine, so if Member accounts are being deleted they haven't got around to mine yet. Nor have I had any warning of impending closure. Definitely raise a support ticket, though with any luck Neil or Bron will see this thread.

8 Nov 2011, 01:59 PM	#3
jam Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 66	Hmm. I'm not sure. I do recall FM was offering to credit back the Member fee of $14.95, for people who wanted to upgrade to Ad-free or above... But as you did not actually change anything, I don't see why your Member status was taken away. I noticed the Cancel "Member" fallback, from 2006-05-19 onwards (though I didn't see it advertised either), that's why I never bothered trying out other levels since it'd be too much bother to lose the address. Hope someone's able to help you out.